1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for exposing printable media. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for exposing printable media in a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of printers, such as point-of-sale printers, contain printable media that may be printed on to form a printed document. Printable media is any material that is capable of being printed on by a printer, such as a roll of paper, a roll of heat-sensitive paper, one or more pre-cut paper sheets, a roll of flat, transparent plastic, carbon paper, or photographic paper. As the printable media in a printer becomes depleted, additional printable media must be added to the printer so that operation of the printer may continue.
For example, some printers, including some point of sale printers, use printable media that is in the form of one or more rolls of paper. These rolls of paper may be formed on small plastic or cardboard cores that help maintain the cylindrical shape of the roll. As paper on the roll of paper is used for printing, the roll of paper becomes smaller. However, the smaller roll of paper may not be easily visible to the human eye when, for example, the cover of the printer is lifted. The inability of a user to determine that the roll of paper is nearing exhaustion adversely affects the user's ability to add additional paper to the printer when necessary.
Furthermore, the printer cavity into which the roll of paper is held may be deep, dark, or obscured by other printer components, thereby further adversely affecting the user's ability to detect depletion of the roll of paper. Such printers may also adversely affect the user's ability to quickly and easily access the depleted roll of paper. As a result, the process of removing an exhausted roll of paper and adding additional paper is more time-consuming, requires more labor, and can lead to unnecessary complications.
If the core is all that remains in the printer, the user may have an even harder time detecting depleted roll of paper. In this situation, if the user adds an additional roll of paper into the printer without detecting and removing the core, the printer will not operate properly and may also be damaged.
Other types of printers utilize a spindle or other bearing device that engages the hollow center of the cylindrical core. However, the use of such a spindle further complicates the process of additional printable media by requiring the disengagement of the spindle from the hollow center of the core. Disengaging the spindle may require the manipulation of disassembly of adjacent parts so that the core may be removed from the printer.